Breathing apparatus



Oct. 13, 1953 f c, cupp 2,655,150

' BREATHING APPARATUS Filed March 8, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1/ Z a Bil) @JNVENTbRA Oct. 13, 1953 c, U 2,655,150

BREATHING APPARATUS Filed March 8, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3! 28y P. a/fIM ENTOR. 46:6: W. f

Q ornqy.

Patented Oct. 13, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BREATHING APPARATUS Charles D; Gupp Lancaster, N. Y., assignor to Scott Aviation. Corporation, Lancaster, N. Y., a eorporatiomof New York ApplicationM'arch 8, 1951, Serial No. 214,584

3 Claims. 1

isknown as an individual, disposable mask; and.

rebreather bag, e., to a breathing apparatus constructed so inexpensively that it may be: provided brand new to any individual passenger of an air liner andthendiscarded after it. has'be'en used by this passenger.

The principal object of the invention. is to provide a breathing apparatusof this character.

which, though low in cost; performs its functions completely and. efficiently, including the diluting. of the compressed oxygen or. airz'by' ambient air near the end of the inhalation cycle. Other collateral objects of the invention and practical solutions thereof; are described in the following specification and appended drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the inventionin its most complex form.

Fig. 2 is a top plan thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section thereof, taken on line 33, Fig. 1.

Fig. i is a layout blank of the main body of the. mask prior to being folded and fastened together and secured to its head band and rebreather' bag.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of: this main mask body folded and fastened together, and also edge punched so as to provide a fiuidetransier opening for tubularly connecting said mask with the rebreather bag.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the partial assembly of Fig. 5, taken on line 6-6, Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of the rebreather bag prior to its assembly with the mask and prior to being provided with a breathing-fluid inlet tube.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary, enlarged, horizontal section through said rebreather bag taken on line 8-8, Fig. l. 7

Fig. 9 is a vertical, longitudinal, enlarged section through the inlet tube.

Similar characters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The mask The blank from which the main body of the mask is made is shown in flat, layout position in Fig. 4. This main body consists primarily of two squares, Or other rectangular, side pieces-a left side piece lflanda right side piece H, connected integrally together at the front foldl2. These side pieces are constructed of impregnated, porous paper (such as crinkle-crepe paper or filter paper) and are diagonally creased at it and M, for reasons subsequently to be explained. The upper edges oftheseside pieces it and H are integrally connected by folds l5 and it; with companion curvilinear pieces l1 and it.

Secured integrally by fold 2b; to the lower edge of side piece H" is a triangular, stiffening piece 2 I, which latter is-integral I-y connected, by a fold 22 with a hem 23. Similar heme 2 25 are integrally connected by folds 2t and 21' with the rear edge of the right, rectangular side piece H and the rear edgeof the triangular, stifiening piece M- respectively. A her-n 28 is also integrally connected by fold to with the rear edge of the left, rectangular side piece iii.

Before folding this main mask bod-y together, a pair of left and right nose", spacer-blocks 3'1 and 32 are secured to the rectangular side pieces Hi and H of the mask by suitablestaple's 3e and 3'4; or otherwise; These nose spacer-blocks may be constructed of anyinexpensive spongy material, such as soitf'eit or sponge rubber.

' This main mask body of Fig. i is then folded together, as shown in- Fig. '5, and is held together by a staple 353 after the curviiinear top pieces I? and [8 have been first folded down over the nose spacer-blocks 31', 3'2, and then all or the 7 four hems being turned-in so as to form smooth,

strong exposed edges.

'The result of this assembly operation is a mask which may be used as it is; for instance, as a simple dust mask. If, however, it is desired to provide a breathing apparatus provided with a rebreather bag to be provided with a supply of breathing fluid, such as compressed oxygen or air, this assembly is edge-punched or nibbled out at its lower, forward edge to form an opening 36.

To conveniently hold the mask in place against the wearers face, the mask is preferably reinforced at its upper rear corners by reinforcing adhesive tape 31, and a flexible, head band 38 suitably secured at its opposite end thereto by staple 40.

The rebreather bag The rebreather bag, prior to assembly, is shown in Figs. '7 and 8. It consists of a pair of identically cut plastic sheets 4| (sheets of polyethylene or the like) which are connected together, at their edges, by a thermal-pressure seam 4'2, and, at their upper rear portion, by parallel seams 43 and 44 to form an annular inlet duct 45. It will be noted that all of these seams are semi-circular at all of their termini, so as to minimize the possibility of starting to tear at these points as a consequence of excessive localized tearing pressures. It is also to be noted that this bag, constructed of inexpensive plastic sheets, is flexible and expansible, but is not stretchable, such stretchable bags as those heretofore made of rubber, having been found to be unnecessary.

The entire assembly This rebreather bag is connected to the mask, by two strips of adhesive tape 46, to form a relatively air and oxygen tight joint between the bag and the mask. Into the inlet duct 45 is passed an L-shaped, inlet tube 41 which is preferably constructed of some such clear plastic tubing and is slightly tapered at its outer end at 48 (to enable it to be smoothly inserted into a rubber tube) by a rotating fixture, and is more or less completely sealed off at its inner end 49, also by a rotating fixture. The lower face of the inner end of the tube 41 is suitably milled out to form a plurality of oxygen inlet ducts 50. The adjacent, protruding portion SI of the rebreather bag is first wrapped around the neck of said inlet tube 41, and is then held in place by an annular band or ring 52 of adhesive tape.

The entire assembly (Fig. 1) is given to the air flight passenger compactly folded up in an aseptic, sealed envelope. Upon receiving this he tears it open, unfolds the mask and the rebreather bag, attaches the inlet tube 41 to a rubber tube (not shown) which is adapted to supply oxygen or air under pressure, and then fits the mask to his face, suitably arranging the head band 38 so as to fairly snugly hold the mask in place. The folds l3 and M of the mask enable said mask to easily open up into a cornucopia form so as to comfortably cover the nose and mouth of the wearer in a relatively tight fluid sealed relationship. The relative tightness of this seal is considerably increased by the spongy, nose, spacer blocks 3!, 32 which serve to push inwardly the curvilinear pieces [1, l8 into firm but comfortable contact with the sides of the wearers nose.

The inward flow of compressed oxygen thru the inlet tube 41 causes the rebreather bag to become more or less inflated, so as to make available an ample supply of oxygen, with a minimum of resistance, when the wearer starts to inhale, the oxygen passing up thru the opening 36 into the interior of the mask. When the lungs become substantially filled with oxygen, the rebreather bag becomes partially collapsed and restricted and then ambient air starts to pass inwardly thru the porous walls of the mask so as to fill the wearers trachea with more air and less oxygen. On exhalation, the exhaled air passes out thru the porous walls of the mask, the rebreather bag in the meantime becoming filled with oxygen from the inlet tube ll.

It should be particularly noted that all of the component parts of this entire breathing apparatus are not only inexpensive to manufacture, and hence may be disposed of with very little loss, but also that these parts are all readily and completely combustible (even the staples may be made of plastic), and hence easily and conveniently disposed of.

I claim:

1. A breathing apparatus of the character described comprising: a mask consisting of two rectangular pieces of porous material connected together at their forward and lower edges, and folded over at their rear edges to form hems; and means for holding said mask against the face of the wearer.

2. A breathing apparatus of the character described comprising: a mask consisting of two rectangular pieces of porous material connected together at their forward and lower edges; and a triangular stifiening piece integrally connected with one of said rectangular pieces and overlying and secured to a portion of the other of said rectangular pieces; and means for holding said mask against the face of the wearer.

3. A breathing apparatus of the character described comprising: a mask consisting of two rectangular pieces of diagonally-creased, porous material connected together at their forward and lower edges; and a triangular stifiening piece integrally connected with one of said rectangular pieces and overlying and extending to the crease of the other of said rectangular pieces; and means for holding said mask against the face of the wearer.

CHARLES D. CUPP.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 7,476 Lane July 2, 1850 2,321,256 Shelton June 8, 1943 2,494,406 Reitano Jan. 10, 1950 2,535,938 Lombard Dec. 26, 1950 2,565,124 Durborow Aug. 21, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 809,510 France Dec. 12, 1936 

